AWDC hosts KP Chair, President of WDC

The AWDC recently hosted the Kimberley Process Chair, His Excellency Wei Chuanzhong, Vice-Chair Bernardo Campos and the Mr. Edward Asscher, President of the World Diamond Council, with the view to renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Kimberley Process Administrative Support Mechanism (ASM).

The ASM was designed to increase the efficiency of the Kimberley Process, to assist the rotating KP chairperson. In 2012, the KP Plenary designated the World Diamond Council through its members AWDC, Israeli IDI, GJECP and the Ghana Government Diamond House as the host of the Administrative Support Mechanism (ASM). AWDC was entrusted with the responsibility of running the ASM’s daily operations.

In the presence of AWDC President Mr. Stéphane Fischler and AWDC CEO Mr. Ari Epstein, Mr. Edward Asscher, newly elected World Diamond Council President, and the Chinese KP Chair and Angolan Vice-Chair renewed the MoU, which sets out the mutual expectations of the KP Chair and the ASM host organization. This renewal reflects the KP Plenary’s and the KP Chair’s continued confidence in the ASM.

At the meeting AWDC, WDC President, the KP Chair and Vice Chair discussed issues including the need for an equal level playing field, ensuring compliance to KP requirements is enforced on a global scale. AWDC stressed on the efficacy of the KP in assisting countries to meet minimum requirements and in creating opportunities for diamond countries to benefit from their natural resources. The representative organization of the Antwerp diamond industry requested the Chair to actively support the development dimension of the KP, for example by developing or supporting technical assistance projects. Also, AWDC reiterated that the debate on a KP reform, initiated and supported by the KP Chair, should be based on the founding principles of the KP of inclusiveness, a tri-partite structure and bottom-up process. AWDC also put forth the request to initiate the written procedure to allow the participating countries to resume rough diamond imports from Ivory Coast and also urged KP and all its participants to ensure that no diamonds from CAR enter the legal flow, and that these illicit diamonds are not illegitimately certified in their countries.